This invention relates to an apparatus for applying a liquid to a wire rope.
More specifically, the invention relates to an apparatus for thoroughly saturating wire rope with a wide variety of liquids including oils, preservatives, solvents, cleaners or other chemicals. Apparatuses of generally the type described herein are disclosed, for example by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,889,781, which issued to R. A. Schott et al on June 17, 1975; 4,063,617, which issued to W. J. Shenk on Dec. 20, 1977 and 4,498,558, which issued to S. H. Bendahan on Feb. 12, 1985. The Bendanhan patent discloses a device which is somewhat similar to the apparatus described herein.
One of the problems of available lubricators is that excess lubricant is discharged from the device with the cable, i.e. the lubricators are messy and cause waste. The Bendahan patent attempts to solve this problem by providing a pair of annular chambers for receiving excess grease upstream and downstream of a central greasing chamber in the direction of cable travel. Bendahan also provides a threaded passage and scraper plates in an attempt to seal the lubricating device. While the Bendahan patent goes a long way toward solving the problem of liquid leakage, there is still room for improvement in the field of devices for applying a liquid to a wire rope or cable.
The object of the present invention is to solve the above-identified problems by providing a relatively simple apparatus for applying a liquid to a wire rope which is relatively mess-free, of rugged construction, easy to use and cost efficient.